Lubricating system.



E. A. RIX.

LUBRIGATING SYSTEM.

uruounm FILED M120, 1911.

1,001,306. Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

State of California, have invented new and proved method of lubricating air compres- UNITED sT rrEs i rnn'r OFFICE.

EDWARD A. RIX, 0F PIEDMONT, CALIFORNIA.

LUBRICATING SYSTEM,

T0 all whom "it may concern. I

Be it known that I, Enwann A.- Rix, a citizeinof' the United States, residing at Piedmont-,in' the county of Alameda and useful Improvements in Lubricating. Systems, of which the following is .1 specification.

- This invention pertains to a new and imsors, and'pa'rticularly that type known as splashi oiling and single-acting. In such compressors the crankcase is made oiltight, and the crank end of the connecting rodis made to strike or splash into abody of oil resting at a proper height in the bottom of the crank case. The splash so produced distributes-the oil over the shaft bearin s, the crank pin bearings, against the cy Hider-walls, and even upon the piston in, and makes an ideal system, as far' as ubricatinq' is concerned. The oil, however, which falls-against the cylinder walls is carried by-rthe' reciprocation of the piston into the cylinder itself in excessive quantities, and is discharged from the cylinder with the air; In acompressor operating at 400 R. P. having 1% diameter of cylinder by 4%" stroke with the connecting rod dipping about} of an inch into the oil, as manyes 40 .drops per minute, or 24,000 drops in a ten-hour run, will be delivered into the cylinder and discharged from there with the "air? z-It'is-at-once apparent that this is expensive and undesirable. 1111 many of the applications of compressed air, damage results from the oil which the air contains, and while itis possible to abstract thisoil .by special apparatus, and by chemical treatment, the expense and trouble to maintain such apparatus render such methodsiver undesirable, with the resultthat other klIldS of compressors are. selected for such particular-applications of the comressed air. If the dipping of the connectmg rod, or any small )rojection thereof, is limited so thata small splash is produced, which will not rrachthe cylinder walls, then the piston pin will fail to receive lubrication, and thesam'e result is produced it the number of revolutions of the crank is lessened. Splash lubrication is thus inmany instances prohibitive, while it is very desirable because of its simplicity and the elimination of .oil' cups.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application'filed March 20, 1911. Serial No. 615,462.

Therefore, it is the object of my present Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

, invention to provide a method for the liibrication of air com ressors and other machinery which wil amount of oil which the piston delivers to the cylinder, and which will permit an unlimited freedom of splash, and one which absolutely control the can at the same time be converted into 'a lubricator feed, if desired.

The invention consists of the parts and" In the pres'ent'embodiment of my inve'ntion, 2 represents a cylinder surrounded by a Water jacket, as 3, and which cylinder has an air intake passage 4, and through which the air entering passes through ports 5, covered by an intake valve 6, and into the cylinder, Within the cylinder 2 is a trunk piston 7, reciprocating within the cylinder and carrying a piston pin 8 to which a connecting rod may be attached. is in contact with the cylinder at each end only for a sufficient width to carry the rings and give a proper bearing surface for the piston within the cylinder walis'. T he distance between these twobearing surfaces should be not less than the stroke of the piston for the minimum amount of oil delivered to the air which is being compressed, and by diminishing this distance the deliveryof oil will be increased, as will be later explained.

The piston The piston 7 is slightly reduced between.-

the end bearing portions to form a shallow chamber or waist portion, which is substan-' tially equal in length to the length of the stroke of the piston, and at a point on the cyllnder sufficiently distant from the head to allow a proper hearing for the upper bearing surface of the-piston is an annular Oll pocket 9, surrounding the cylinder and having an annular opening 10 lnto the cylinder' cha nber. For the purpose of giving a minimum delivery of oilhintothe compressed air, this annular opening or mouth 10 must be continuous, but a, number of bridges or webs, as 11, may be provided if more than a minimum delivery of oil is desired.

During the operation of the piston its sur-1 face becomes part} y covered with a quantity of oil, and as it rises in the cylinder the lower bearing portion of the piston carries 12, so that as the roll accumulates in thep ecket 9 this accu'mulation is; drained ofi' and returned to thecrank case, as indicated at. B, below the cylinder.

' cylind.er is spaced for a minimum oil delivthe end of the compression stroke the'shouldeli, orlinesl stops in approximately the Y Ba 0 thatfat the end of the suction stroke the shoulder or line 13 at the upper ortion of the piston stops at approximately t e center of the annular opening or mouth, and at same transverse plane. Itis evidentfrom this construction that any oil which may be carried upward by the lower-bearingpart or portion of the piston ;wil1 be delivered into'the oil pocket andreturned1=to the crankcase by the drain pipe 12, and-itwill'beimpossible for any oil to be 1iehimredby the lower part of the piston to the'upper internal walls of the cylinder.

' In actual operation it is found that the heat of com ression volatilizes a small portion of the 011 and it condenses, onthe upper inner surface of the cylinder sufliciently to thoroughly lubricate it. If more oilis needed, it is only necessary to either cast bridgesor webs 11 in sufficient number in "the annular mouth or wall 10, or to place the I shoulder or line 13 farther away from the upper transverseend of the piston 7, or. to

increase the distance between the lower end.

' :ofthe piston 7} and the. shoulder or line 14,

so that either the upper part of the piston .35 7

runs into the oiled cylinder surface below the annularopenin ,-orthe oiled into ,the upper cylinder surface.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimv and'desire to secure by Letters-Patout, is" a 'nie Spa-a s stem (if lubrication, the

combination of-a cylinder, a piston and the The annular opening or mouth 10 in the piston runs' crank case adapted to contain oil, the c linder havin' an oil pocket to one side 0 the waist portion and the mouth of the pocket so arranged with relation'to the turned-clown portion of the piston that the mouth of the pocket is never completely covered by the piston; thereby preventing the oil being car ried up by the piston into the cylinder space above the piston.

, 2. A system for the lubrication -of-a ma chine, having a stationary bearing part and a moving part, said movmg part being-provided with bearing surfaces whereby oil is carried from a source of supply; in one portion of the machine and deposited in a receiving chamber formed in the stationary part, and-returning part. of said oil so deposited to the source of supply. 3. A means for lubricating air compressors, comprising a cylinder provided with an 011 receiving pocket, an annular lip formed on the internal wall of the cylinder, and a piston movable within the cylinder and adapted to transfer 'oil deposited upon the lower walls I of the cylinderabove the annular lip, by

which lip a portion of the oil carried on the surface of thepiston is removed therefrom and deposited in the oil receiving pocket.

4. In a splash system of lubrication, the combination of a cylinder, a piston and crank case adapted to contain oil, saidcylinder-having an annular pocket formed in its walls with the mouth of the pocket traversable by the piston, said pocket-having an oil return duct back into the crank case.

5. In a splashoi-lingsystem, the combination with a cylinder, a-piston and :thecrank case, of means for removing oil carried by I the piston in excess of that necessary for. lu-i brication andbefore itfrea'ches the space in the (iylinder on the opposite side "of. the piston rom the-crank case. p

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two sillpscribi g witnesses. EDWARD A. R IX -J Witnesses: i

G. M. PAGE, A. W. Wool 

